All-Star debate: Puig's hot numbers vs. DiMaggio

July 10, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 12:28 p.m.

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The comparisons between Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig began at the end of June when Puig became only the second player in major league history to manage at least 40 hits and four home runs in his first month. DiMaggio had 48 hits and four homers. FILE PHOTOS

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First 33 games played:Yasiel Puig: 140 plate appearances; 26 runs; 54 hits; 8 home runs; 19 RBI; .409/.436/.667 slash line. Joe DiMaggio: 164 PA; 36 R; 58 H; 5 HR; 37 RBI;.363/ .378/.631 slash line While there is a clear gap between runs and RBIs, DiMaggio's 24 extra plate appearances in the same number of games is telling of the time period and team context necessary to better normalize the stats.(click photo to continue)GETTY IMAGES

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First 33 games (continued):The 1936 Yankees went 102-51, finished first in the AL, won the World Series, and led the league in runs scored. They were batting through the lineup much more often, creating more opportunities to score runs and bat in runners. In DiMaggio's first 32 games, the 1936 Yankees scored 245 runs. In Puig's first 32 games, the 2013 Dodgers have scored 138 runs. With this in mind, the difference in runs and RBI's no longer seems as drastic. If anything, Puig's numbers are arguably more impressive given the current competitiveness of the game. AP

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Statistics through the All-Star Game:Yasiel Puig (projected): 39 games; 165 plate appearances; 31 runs; 64 hits; 10 home runs; 23 RBIJoe DiMaggio: 57 G: 280 PA: 61 R; 96 H; 11 HR; 62 RBI Puig's numbers above are rough projections of where his stats would sit at the All-Star Break given his current pace, though his batting average dropping almost forty points in the last five games almost certainly indicates his current pace is unsustainable. These stats reveal where sides diverge in the All-Star debate. While Puig's first 32 game stats are certainly deserving of an All-Star nod, those same stats in light of half a season are lacking.Click on photo to continueGETTY IMAGES

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Statistics through the All-Star Game (continued): The question of whether Puig “deserves” to be an All-Star rests entirely upon the ongoing debate of what it means to be an All-Star. Is it to reward a player for his consistency and exemplary contribution in the first half of the season as many managers and players who are jockeying for home field advantage have argued, or is the game an exhibition to entertain the fans as the starting line-up fan ballot may attest? While the two are not and should not be mutually exclusive, they are the sides of the debate that have emerged. Rather than taking a definitive stance, the league has found the perfect compromise to the All-Star debate by placing Puig in the Final Vote. The fans will decide. AP

The comparisons between Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig began at the end of June when Puig became only the second player in major league history to manage at least 40 hits and four home runs in his first month. DiMaggio had 48 hits and four homers.FILE PHOTOS

Yasiel Puig, the Dodgers' rookie phenom whose name has been on the tip of baseball's collective tongue for the last five weeks, found his All-Star hopes relegated to MLB's Final Vote when the rosters roll out Saturday afternoon.

Puig has put up All-Star caliber numbers since his call up on June 3 that have excited fans and ignited the slow-starting Dodgers, despite playing his first two months of the season in the minors. Puig's slash line of .409/.436/.667 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage through Monday's games) is an incredible feat for any player, rookie aside, but many players and managers have publically expressed that his short tenure of 33 games are not enough to warrant a 2013 All-Star Game bid.

If Puig were to be selected when the Final Vote poll closes on Thursday, he would make history as the player with the fewest major league games played to be selected as an All-Star (projected 39 games). The current record is help by Joe DiMaggio with 57 games.

DiMaggio became the first rookie ever to be named an All-Star in 1936. He missed the first 17 games of the season nursing a badly blistered foot, but after being called up on May 3, he hit a blistering .354/.373/.627 with eleven home runs and 62 RBI's before the All Star break.

The Puig-DiMaggio comparisons began at the end of June when Puig became only the second player in major league history to manage at least 40 hits and four home runs in his first month, right behind Joe DiMaggio, who had 48 hits and four homers. A glance at DiMaggio's 1936 late-season start gives context to the controversy surrounding whether Puig "deserves" to be an All-Star.

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